The Encyclopedia I Just Can't Get Enough Of (Books)

I am in the midst of completing my last lesson of an intensive non-fiction writing course that I want to do every week for the rest of my life - it is that good.

This last lesson focuses on structure and really emphasizes giving great thought to the structure and format of your work.

With my book, I planned on one thing and it became something else. Something better. And I couldn’t have planned on that, no matter what materials and grid paper were available to me.

My first one was very research-based so it came in huge waves at various points and so, I jumped from crest to crest, letting it take me away. It was a joy, but by book’s end, I knew the next one would be a much more structured affair – something with a beginning, middle and end.

And so far it is. So far.

So, with this lesson, I have been investigating different ways to present your work – chronological, alphabetical, themed chapters, etc.

But never before have I been so impressed by both a book’s structure and content than Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life.

This is one of those books that you hold even when you aren’t reading it, because it just brings you so much joy. I can’t stop telling people about it, reading entries from it, begging friends to read it and promising that they will love it as much as I do.

I am what you might call an Amy Krouse Rosenthal evangelist.

Because she has done something so incredibly bright – I can’t stop thinking about it:

She went out and wrote a biography about herself in encyclopedia format, A-Z, and while it is all about this woman whom I never heard of before and whom you learn the most intimate details about, she manages to make it a non-egotistical venture AND her name is not a part of her book’s title.

She is smart AND funny, a simultaneous feat that is near to impossible for mere mortals, and I could read 22 volumes full of her life’s details. Make that 220.

I think about her all the time and now, when I am considering what to make for dinner, I actually say in my head – “Would Amy like Chinese broccoli?.” Throughout the day I might wonder “Would she enjoy the movie Three Kings? Does she use an electric toothbrush? Does she have a childhood toy atop her desk?

She is a woman I would love to have as a friend in my life, one of those fun people who you are constantly telling friends and family about. She loves books and buys them for friends when they invite her over – who DOES this? She is many things, but she is neurotic in a completely logical (and hysterical) fashion. This is just one example (yes, I am trying to get you hooked):

ESCALATOR

One would think that by this point in my life, I would have outgrown the feat of getting my shoe caught in the escalator.

See also: Anxious, Things That Make Me: Fears

And this brings me back to structure. A.K.R. has taught me to go for what is fun for me, not what I think people would like.

And that’s why my next book will appear in a series of bubblegum wrappers, complete with the pink dusty stick of chewy goodness, whose flavour lasts just as long as you can walk to the garbage and throw out the wrapper. No, wait! Don’t throw it out! See, I wrote something on it! It’s funny. No, really.

Maybe I’ll just sign up for an extra lesson or two.

p.s. - When I was trying to convince my friend Chris to get the book, he asked me if I was reading it in book fashion (front to back) or flipping around all over the place. I was stunned. What do you mean? It’s a book, a story of her life. It is not chronological, yes, but it is alphabetical. Who would bound around like that? I was astonished he could think about flitting around the pages.

A day later I came to see how someone could. But not me. I stand in front of the subway door that will open in front of the exit I need to get me where I want to go. I don’t want to waste time walking down the platform, stopping and looking up for the sign of where to exit, holding up people like me who have planned out their route.

Chris and I are still best friends. And I applaud his ability to think of reading the book out of sequence. He makes perfect poached eggs, is running a 10K in a couple of weeks and is much more adventurous than me. He can teach me a lot. A.K.R. too.